was the Pope scheduled to be here during the same time as the UN for a particular purpose? Or was it just some bozo thinking "yeah, no worries with the Pope coming into town then, it'll work out great. Can't think of anything else going on. Maybe the start of basketball season? Eh, no worries."

was the Pope scheduled to be here during the same time as the UN for a particular purpose? Or was it just some bozo thinking "yeah, no worries with the Pope coming into town then, it'll work out great. Can't think of anything else going on. Maybe the start of basketball season? Eh, no worries."

If it makes you New Yorkers feel any better, Philly is planning to tow cars parked on major streets in most of Center City in anticipation of the Pope's visit. Starting on some sort of rolling basis based on randomly demarcated zone. They're offering parking permits to residents in something like six or seven lots, which can probably accommodate 10% of the displaced cars. Oh, and cars that leave Center City can't return for several days.

Nobody freezes up a city like the pontif. Nobody's even close. Over the years I've been in five different cities during a papal visit and all reported the worst case of gridlock (event related) in their respective histories.